NSIIP News

FORMER REFUGEES FACE LOSING RESIDENCY IN CANADA IF THEY RETURN TO HOMELAND

February 23, 2015

With 2012 changes to immigration laws, the number of former refugees who lost their protected status — and permanent residency — has almost quintupled.

Ottawa has slowly — and quietly — stepped up efforts to strip permanent resident status from former refugees who were granted asylum in Canada and later returned to the country where they once faced persecution.

Wielding new powers that came in with changes to immigration law in 2012, the federal government is now actively pursuing reopening asylum files under what’s known as a “cessation application” and forcing refugees whose circumstances have changed to leave Canada.